Infosys on Thursday appointed its independent director Ravi Venkatesan as co-chairman of the board.

In a regulatory filing to the BSE, the IT firm said Venkatesan had made valuable contribution to the company’s development of strategic direction during his tenure since April 2011.

“Ravi will help me enhance the Board engagement in supporting the management in execution of the company’s strategy,” said Infosys board chairman R Seshasayee in the filing.

On his elevation to the new executive post, Venkatesan said he was delighted to have the opportunity to work more closely with Seshasayee and CEO Vishal Sikka and his leadership team.

“This is an exciting time for the technology industry and I am delighted to work with Seshasayee and Sikka and the leadership team in their transformational journey,” said Venkatesan in a statement.

The 53-year-old former chairman of Microsoft’s India subsidiary (2004-2011), Venkatesan is currently also chairman of the state-run Bank of Baroda.

“Venkatesan is also the founder-chairman of Social Venture Partners India, a partner at Unitus Seed Fund and a fund advisor at Kalaari Capital,” said Infosys in a profile of its management team members.

Venkatesan also serves on the boards of Rockefeller Foundation in the US and several advisory boards worldwide.

“Venkatesan is the author of an acclaimed book Conquering the Chaos: Win in India, Win Everywhere,” published by Harvard Business Review.

A science graduate from IIT-Bombay and a post-graduate from Purdue University in the US, Venkatesan has an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was also a Baker Scholar. He was voted as one of India’s best management thinkers by Thinkers50.

Watch this FactorDaily video to find out what Ravi does in the after-hours.

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